Lavender

I have found the topical uses for most plants are quite fragmented and, frankly, lacking a lot of the time. Even the most robust Materia Medica often has a maximum of about three sentences on the topical uses and preparations for a given plant, and the information is so baked into the content it can be almost impossible to tease it out enough to hold it on its own. So I’m embarking on an attempt to compile information from all my sources on some of our favorite plant allies’ topical uses on their own!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Plant Profile & Topical Uses of St. John’s Wort

Topical Indications

🏵 Nervous System Support 🏵
Lavender is a famous anxiolytic for good reason, most notably how accessible the benefits of lavender are through our sense of smell. The simple act of smelling lavender has a calming effect on the nervous system that is shown to improve mood, aid in sleep, uplift spirits, and has the unique property of improving mental acuity and alertness at the same time as aiding in relaxation. Lavender is also shown to be beneficial for headaches, and may reduce duration of migraine symptoms if applied in the early stages.

🏵 Skin 🏵
One of my favorite uses for lavender is for burns and minor skin irritations. It’s one of my favorite oils to use in the bath or in a sugar scrub, as well as for full body oiling, due to it’s skin-soothing properties. For minor sunburns, I will apply lavender infused oil along with St. John’s Wort infused oil. However, if I burn myself on the wood stove, I’m reaching for the lavender essential oil and applying that neat (this is one of very few EO’s I personally use at all, and one of even fewer I would be likely to recommend.)

🏵 Spiritual 🏵
Lavender seems to inspire a sense of courageousness that aids in gaining clarity and focus in difficult situations. Lavender is very commonly used by nearly everybody, even if they would never consider themselves an herbal enthusiast. You will find it in sachets kept in clothes drawers as well as dream pillows, as the comforting scent is welcomed by so many folks in uplifting their mood and remaining spiritually centered.

How to use Lavender Topically

🏵 Anxiety 🏵
Lavender is used in a variety of ways to support nervous and anxious individuals. There are numerous studies looking at every demographic from college students to Alzheimer’s patients and how people respond to this plant ally. It is interesting that this plant is considered a hypnotic nervine and yet these sedative effects don’t depress our cognitive function, but lend us more focused and clear thoughts.

This is definitely one of the body oils I recommend having a few bottles strategically placed around the house so that they are easily within reach during specific activities. Next to a computer or workstation, a favorite reading chair, by the bath, and at the bedside table are where you can find mine. I will take little five-minute self-massage breaks while working, especially when I’m puzzling over something at the computer, to get my mind straight and take the edge off. Pretty much any time I want to relax, whether it’s because I’m running over with anxiety or because I am just ready to wind down, spot massaging my neck and feet are an easy way to care for my nervous system.

🏵 Sleep support 🏵
Similar to what I talked about in my post about St. John’s Wort, improved sleep is a byproduct of a regulated nervous system. When I’m on top of at least foot oiling for myself and the kids, everyone does better with getting to sleep at night. A two or three minute foot rub near bedtime is all the more I ever really do, whether for myself or the twins. Sometimes it’s while watching a movie and having together time, and other times it is a more deliberate way to reconnect after a tough day or heavy stress times. We have oiled the kids feet since they were in the NICU, and even though it falls out of regular practice sometimes for months at a time, it is always something they take to like ducks to water when we start back up again.

🏵 After Sun Care 🏵
Apply liberally to mild sunburns. This is the one I will pick in the mornings when I know I may find myself being back out in the sun again, because there isn’t the same risk of photosensitivity as there is with St. John’s Wort.

🏵 Wound Healing 🏵
I use this one a lot for chub rub and sweaty bits. Mild abrasions and heat rash respond well to the cooling and drying properties of lavender.

🏵 All over body-oiling 🏵
This is another one that can just be slathered on as long as one doesn’t have any sensitivity to it (this is becoming more common than you’d think.) Even before I was a massage therapist myself, I would encourage folks to ask their regular massage therapist if they could bring their own oil to their sessions (some just don’t like oil, in which case there are alternatives like body butters or creams.) Lavender is one I’m most likely to reach for when I do a full body oiling session, and it’s also my go-to for turning into a quick sugar scrub for the shower that I’ve been doing a lot of lately as an alternative to showering and oiling seperately.

In all seriousness, though, the goal here is to use body-oiling as one of multiple tools in your repertoire for fostering a sense of safety in your body (nervous system regulation.) You pretty much can’t get this wrong! If you’ve ever applied lotion to your skin, you already know enough about body oiling to get started. Check out my post on herbal body oiling for a basic overview of why body oiling is beneficial and how to get started. To grab a bottle of your very own, head over to the listing for my super potent and high-quality infused Lavender Body Oil.

Contraindications

Lavender’s emmenagogue properties make it contraindicated during pregnancy.

These statements are solely for informational purposes and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Any recommended products and the information provided on this website are not meant to diagnose‚ treat or cure any disease or medical condition. It is not medical advice and should not be treated as such. Please consult your doctor before starting any exercise or nutritional supplement program or before using these or any similar products. 

Resources

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

1. Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils  – Online Course with Kami McBride
2. Popham, Sajah – Materia Medica Monthly Program
3. Tilgner, Dr. Sharol Marie; Herbal Medicine from the Heart of the Earth, pp136-137
4. https://chestnutherbs.com/lavenders-medicinal-and-aromatherapy-uses-and-lavender-truffles/
5. https://eclecticschoolofherbalmedicine.com/lavender-monograph/
6. Ayales, Adriana; The Herbal Astrology Oracle; pp 61-63